How to forgive yourself

How to forgive yourself

John has cheated on his wife a few years ago and he can never forgive himself for what he has done. He says he will never forgive himself for his behavior, for hurting his wife, and for not being loyal to her.

Kelly came home tired and frustrated from her job. She started yelling and screaming at everyone in the house. When she calmed down a few hours later, she started to feel guilty and she wanted her family to forgive her for her behavior.

Do those stories sound familiar? What about you, do you love yourself enough to forgive yourself? Is it easy for you to forgive yourself? Have you done something that you feel you can’t forgive yourself?

People sometimes do some mistakes toward themselves and others. Sometimes, people also hurt others intentionally and unintentionally. When you hurt someone or do something that you are not proud of and start feeling guilty, the first thing you need to do is forgive yourself before you ask others to forgive you. Whether you screamed at your child, hurt your partner, lied at your friend, it is necessary to forgive yourself for your own sake and others.

How to forgive yourself

To learn how to forgive yourself, follow the quick guide below:

1. Recognition

Recognize your behavior and what you have done. If it is something simple such as screaming at your child, your partner, then work on understanding yourself and emotions. It is also necessary to understand why you took this action that you have to forgive yourself for now.

2. Learn your lesso

After you recognize what you have done, you need to learn your lesson from the experience, so you won‘t repeat it again. Ask yourself, what can you learn from this experience? Do you have to change some habits or behaviors to avoid such experience?

3. Forgive yourself

Realize that you are a human and everyone makes “mistakes” or does things that we are not proud of. If you stay upset and angry at yourself, this will not benefit you. All it will do is cause you pain, grief, stress, and could lead you into depression. Therefore, it is better to realize that you are a human and then make a decision to forgive yourself.

Always remember the proverb, “We achieve inner health only through forgiveness . The forgiveness not only of others but also of ourselves.”